


Corner Pieces

by harmony88



Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [13]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Pregnancy, episodic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:01:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harmony88/pseuds/harmony88
Summary: COMPLETEThe Doctor and Rose, following a short trip to the villa after the Doctor nearly regenerated, decide to pay Martha and Donna a visit and tell them about the baby, but when are things ever simple?“I got sleep,” he murmured. “I’m worried about you, though.”“Just pregnancy stuff,” she said, looking at him through the mirror as she set the toothbrush back down. He clenched his jaw.“Rose,” he whispered, and she threw the paper cup he had handed her in the bin and turned to look at him, her hands behind her, gripping the edge of the sink.“You need to sleep,” she said again. “You’ve got those dark circles.”
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111892
Comments: 2
Kudos: 75





	1. Because I Want To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me like 5 days to write my last story, so I cranked this one out to make up for it. Thanks for reading!

It had been a few days since she’d really dealt with morning sickness, but it was coming back with a vengeance tonight. 

She knew it was stress. 

Her back was against the wall, her breath labored and her eyes closed, anticipating the next round of dry heaving she was certain was around the corner. He had finally fallen asleep when the wave of nausea hit her and she had all her blocks up, determined not to wake him up when she knew he spent the entire time she was resting fixing the TARDIS. 

He was a little stressed too, she was sure of it. 

She leaned over the toilet again and heaved, nothing but bile coming out at this point and she just groaned and started to cry from frustration. It happened one more time before she finally felt like it was under control when suddenly the door opened and he was standing there in his flannel pajamas, his hair rather tousled and his glasses on his nose, holding out a cup of her medicine. 

“You should be sleeping,” she moaned, but she took the cup anyway and stood, brushing her teeth before she drank it. He just watched her, his side leaning into the doorframe, and he shook his head. 

“I got sleep,” he murmured. “I’m worried about you, though.” 

“Just pregnancy stuff,” she said, looking at him through the mirror as she set the toothbrush back down. He clenched his jaw. 

“Rose,” he whispered, and she threw the paper cup he had handed her in the bin and turned to look at him, her hands behind her, gripping the edge of the sink. 

“You need to sleep,” she said again. “You’ve got those dark circles.” 

He glanced at his reflection and swallowed, and he just let out a breath. “Will you lay with me?” 

She nodded, her hand finding his as they moved back to the room with the view and crawled into the canopy bed, and he pulled her to him, the feel of her in his arms all he would ever need and he kissed the top of her head. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said, looking at the ocean through the window. “Sleep.” 

He didn’t say anything and he closed his eyes, but he opened them immediately. She sat up and looked at him, brushing his hair back. “I know I’m going to have a nightmare. Don't really feel like dealing with that.” 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had one, if that makes you feel better.” 

“Why would that make me feel better?” he asked her seriously, and she just shrugged. 

“You’re not alone?” she said softly, and he just sighed. “Doctor, it was a really hard day. And we’re okay, and I know we aren’t dwelling and I know for me I’m just happy you’re alright, but underneath all that joy and relief there’s still….” 

“I know,” he said. “It’s not that.” 

She looked at him, and she could tell that he was handling this whole ‘almost regenerating’ thing a little better than she was, and she knew it was probably because he’d dealt with it much more. He was looking up at the ceiling and she laid down next to him, linking their hands together between them and she looked at his profile, falling more in love. 

“Is it what the wolf showed me?” she whispered, so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. He closed his eyes. 

“Sort of,” he said. “It’s complicated.” 

She rolled onto her side, draping her arm across his chest as she began to kiss his neck. She moved to place her leg in between his, her lips still brushing his skin and he shuddered a little, turning so he could kiss her properly for a moment. “You don’t have to tell me.” 

He looked at her, and he kissed her forehead. “When the Syn went to Gallifrey….people got hurt.” She stiffened a little and he let out a breath. “Our minds, of course, are stronger than most of the hosts they try to inhabit. It’s why you and I were able to remove them so easily...That and your damn instincts.” 

She smiled a little and he pulled her closer, knowing he needed to talk about this or it would weigh on him for days. 

“Some people who were on their last one died. So did some younger people who hadn’t yet earned their regenerations. Those with weakened immune systems, mostly,” he said, and Rose stopped breathing. 

“Alice?” she somehow managed to say, and the Doctor shook his head. 

“No, she was already gone,” he muttered, rubbing his hand over his face. “But...a few others who had tried to stop them were forced into early regenerations before Brax realized what to do.” 

The air was thick and heavy as she waited for him to continue, and when he did, all the puzzle pieces came together. Why he had been so angry watching the star, why he was so resistant to let her come with him, why she sensed he wanted to yell at her. 

Why his first thought was to sacrifice himself before he pushed it aside, only to almost do it again. Why he chose not to. 

“My kids. Both of them,” he whispered. “They were fine. Perfectly, absolutely fine, but…” 

“Were you traveling?” she murmured, and he just nodded. 

“Course I was,” he said, a little bitterly. “That was the start of the end, truly. They never forgave me.” 

“You couldn’t have known,” she said, and he just sighed. 

“Well,” he said, trying to shrug it off a little. “Tell them that.” 

She kept her mouth shut, almost saying something about how she would if she could and caught herself, knowing he might take it the wrong way. 

He knew he was spiraling a little. He knew it was a combination of exhaustion and the fact that he’d had a few hours to process everything that happened, and all that hope and joy and refusal to let the dread in had been withered down by the inevitable devil on his shoulder, like it always was. 

Sometimes his brain really irritates him. 

Rose ran her hand along his wedding ring and he let out a shaky breath. “Like I said. Complicated. But...well, it was a long time ago. I’m fine.” 

“What were you doing?” she whispered. “When all of that was happening?” 

He clenched his jaw, rubbing small circles on her arms, and he just sighed. “I was on Earth stopping a group of Probe Bats from overtaking King Tut’s inauguration.” 

She burst out laughing, and he smiled a little at the sound. It was like music, filling the corners of this room and the chambers of his hearts with joy after a couple hours of unyielding dread, and she had to sit up so she could breathe properly. “Are you serious?” 

“Yes,” he said, still smiling at her and she just hit his arm. 

“Git,” she said, smiling at him. “I know this is easier said than done, but you can’t hold any of that against yourself. You weren’t playing rugby. You were quite literally preserving history.” 

“It was a funny story -” he started, and she just looked at him, sensing he was about to deflectively ramble. “Thank you.” 

“Doctor,” she whispered, a little more serious now. “I’m so sorry about everything with your kids. I really am. It breaks my heart, but if you’re worried about doing something similar to our child, if you’re worried that regenerating tonight would have been like abandoning us, or that you’ll somehow hurt them... _Don’t._ I know you. I’d never hold something like that against you and I will make sure they don’t either. I’ll slap them if they try it.” 

“You sound like your mother,” he teased, one of the very few moments where that statement felt appropriate and light-hearted, and she just smiled. 

“Good,” she said, winking at him. 

“You’re impossible, you know that?” he mumbled. “Always knowing what’s wrong.” 

“Well, we don’t have secrets much these days, do we?” she said, her tongue in the corner of her mouth and he smiled back at her. 

“Cathal and Sioman,” he murmured. 

“What?” she said, and he just looked at her. 

“Their names. My sons. They were Cathal and Sioman,” he said quietly, and Rose stared at him, completely stunned. 

Her eyes welled with tears she tried to push down, but they spilled over anyway, and he sat up with her, wiping them off her cheeks. He kissed her, and she immediately wrapped her hands in his hair, kissing him back, and he lowered them both down onto the mattress, his hand on her stomach. “You didn’t have to tell me that.” 

“I wanted to,” he whispered. 

She just bit her lip and he kissed her again, the dread officially back in its little corner of his mind where he could forget about it until the next terrifying moment occurs, but he chose not to think about that. It was a cycle that will always repeat itself, and in that moment, he just let that be okay. 

Nothing could be too terrible so long as she was here. 

“You really do smell incredible,” he said against her lips. “It’s driving me insane.” 

“Is it?” she said, gasping a little as he nodded and kissed her jawline, and she bit her lip. “I’m still not feeling so great. I’m sorry.” 

“No,” he said. “Don’t apologize.” 

He kissed her again, leaning back and brushing her hair off of her cheeks. “I want hot chocolate,” she purred. 

“Yeah?” he asked, smiling at her, and she just sat up, immediately throwing the blanket off of her and grabbing a robe, wrapping her body in it as she moved straight to the kitchen and he followed, grabbing some sugar as she grabbed milk and cocoa powder and a dash of vanilla, and he helped her mix it all together in a pot, laughing at the eagerness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. 

“Remember the first time we got hot chocolate?” she asked, sitting down on the chair by the table. He smirked at her. 

“To be fair, Rose, I really did think I would overheat in that leather jacket. It wasn’t exactly freezing,” he said, and she just rolled her eyes. 

“You’re a big baby, is what you are,” she teased, and he just rolled his eyes as he poured her a drink in her favorite mug that she kept here, sliding it to her. “You gonna have some now?” 

“Sure,” he said, pouring himself a smaller mug and she just smiled knowingly. “It’s late.” 

“Mhm,” she said. 

“I like hot chocolate!” he said, laughing at her, and suddenly they were flirting and bantering, their eyes dancing with each other, and all felt as it should. 

The here and now. 

“Play pen?” she said, pointing to the corner of the living room near the basket of blankets. He glanced over, feeling his hearts race a little and he looked back at her. 

“Those are restrictive, no?” he asked, and she just smiled at him. 

“I think there might be moments where we just want to sit on the couch for a minute,” she said. “Tony had one, remember?” 

“He hated it,” the Doctor said, and Rose just rolled her eyes again, their flirty banter filling the room with a new type of air, and they were both rather happy about it. 

“No, he didn’t,” Rose said. “He hated it when _you_ were in the room because you’re basically his favorite toy.” 

He stared at her, a small smile on his lips and he took a sip of hot chocolate. “You think so?” 

“Not stroking your ego,” she repeated for the second time in twenty four hours and he chuckled, sipping again. “You're fantastic with him.” 

“Well,” he said, sniffing. “He’s a Tyler. Tend to like them.” 

She smiled widely at him, reaching her hand across the counter and holding it for a moment, giving him a small squeeze. “I was thinking of fun ways to tell Martha and Donna.” 

“Were you?” he said, placing his chin in his palm. “Do tell.” 

“Martha - we make a fake Doctor’s appointment, right? She’s in family medicine, so she could totally just think she’s doing a 15 week check up for some random couple, use the psychic paper a little, and then she gets to see them up close,” she said. He smiled at her. 

“I like it. Donna?” he asked, and Rose bit her lip. 

“We send her a present but the card says it's from ‘space baby’,” she said, and he made a face at her, laughing. 

“I weirdly think she’d probably like that,” he said, “She’ll make fun of me for it.” 

“She’ll make fun of you no matter what,” Rose said. “We will have to explain to them we haven’t seen them in nearly four months in our timeline, though.” 

“Can you do that?” he asked, and she just shook her head, their eyes dancing with each other, and they both took a sip of hot chocolate. “I think when they see the baby bump they might let it slide a bit.” 

“Yeah,” Rose said, tracing her tongue on her lip. He just looked at her for a moment and finished his drink in a large gulp, and she watched him take it to the sink, washing it immediately and putting it back in the cupboard. She still had a bit to go on hers and she sipped silently for a few moments while he tidied up all the ingredients and he moved to her, wrapping his arms around her neck. 

“You sore?” he asked, sensing a knot in her muscles and she just sighed. 

“I mean, we did a lot of running today,” she said, shrugging, and he kissed her shoulder. 

“You want a massage?” he asked, and she just shook her head. 

“No, I want you to sleep,” she said. “I know you’re tired.” 

“Fine,” he said. “Goodnight, love.” 

“I’m coming with you,” she said, laughing at his pouty face as he suddenly smiled at her, and she held him to her, her presence chasing away all the nightmares. 

At least for tonight.


	2. Hello, Martha

They spent two days in the villa, relaxing and flirting and watching telly, planning a little bit more of the layout of the house once the baby was born, and he was standing in the doorway to one of the guest rooms, trying to decide what color to paint this nursery. 

They were leaving the following day they had decided and were going to enact Phase 1 of telling their friends about their child, starting with Martha, who they both felt was more likely to keep it a secret until Donna got her gift. 

He missed them both, of course, but that fiery redhead and him were, if he dared to say it, proper mates. 

Rose was eating something, finishing her last bite when she came to stand next to him and slipped her hand into his, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Did you decide?” 

“I’m worried they won’t be able to sleep,” he said, and Rose just looked at him in surprise. “Without the map.” 

“Can you project one in here?” she asked and he just sighed. 

“It won’t be the same,” he murmured. 

They didn’t have any more of the paint from his family, which is where they were both fairy certain it came from, and she nibbled on her lip, looking up at the ceiling. “Well, the TARDIS lives in the stars. So it makes sense that the stars are projected in their room there.” He watched her as she began to run her hand along the wall until she reached the window, and she pulled the curtain back to reveal the ocean, just as waves crashed against the rocks, and she smiled. “But it’s different here.” 

He stayed silent and moved to the window as well, looking out at the water. The birds that sounded like wind chimes were circling above the trees, and he looked at her. She was walking around the room again and she sat on the current guest bed, looking at the wall. 

“It should be the ocean,” she whispered. “I’m sure you can come up with some projection of that in that big Time Lord brain of yours. And maybe…” 

“What?” he asked, captivated by her. She just smiled. 

“Maybe one night, when they’re getting ready to fall asleep, you can tell them about how their Daddy found their Mummy by the ocean and that -” 

He kissed her, stopping her words. It was a deep kiss, and she moaned a little into it, causing him to lower her down onto the bed, his mouth moving to her neck for a moment. She lost her breath a bit at the sensation and he just shook his head, his love for this woman in his arms rendering him speechless and he was unable to process it, he just whispered her name as he caught her lips in a kiss again. 

It was another moment where _love_ just didn’t quite feel like enough. Like there had to be a word larger than that, a word that could encapsulate all that she was, and there just simply wasn’t. 

She was just that impossible. 

“Say that again,” he said, and she looked at him. 

“Say what?” she asked, and he just looked at her. 

“Everything you just said,” he whispered, and she bit her lip. 

“You can tell them about how their Daddy found their Mummy?” she murmured, and he just smiled at her, a wide, frenzied smile that was boisterous and happy and overwhelmed, and he pulled her into a hug. “You alright?” 

“Oh, yes,” he said, kissing her again. “Happy.” 

She pressed her cheek into his shoulder as he held her, and he was feeling a little dizzy. They’d referred to themselves with those names a handful of times, but it still felt rather impossible. Some moments it was easy, other moments (like the other night) were harder, but right now he was awestruck, and he brushed his hand against her abdomen, feeling a slightly larger bump than what was there even 48 hours ago, and he felt his breath hitch. 

“I take it you like that idea, then?” she said, watching his face as his wheels turned and processed all that he was feeling, and he just smiled. 

“Blue walls?” he asked, and she bit her lip. 

“New carpet,” she said, and her tongue found the corner of her mouth, the reference not lost on him, and her wit making him laugh. 

“New doors, too?” he asked, and she laughed with him. He kissed her again, leaving his hand on her cheek as traced his eyes over her face, and he just shook his head. 

“I love you, Rose Tyler,” he said. 

“I love you,” she said, adding his name in Gallifreyan, and he smiled like an idiot at her. 

She eventually went swimming, and he just read a book on the lounge chairs, both bantering a little, and the rest of the day was rather mundane. It was domestic and simple. He made dinner, they played a board game from some far away planet he insisted she’d love, and she just rolled her eyes when he was proven right. 

They were sitting on the couch, their plates of food empty on the coffee table, absent-mindedly watching one of Rose’s favorite early 21st century shows. He was smirking to himself that she still chose those when she could quite literally watch anything ever made, and he looked down at her, noticing she had fallen asleep. 

He decided to give it a go. Practice. 

“Hello,” he murmured quietly, his hand on her tummy again. “Your mum had an idea, and I thought...Well, I just thought that maybe I should start now. That way when you can actually understand what I’m saying it’s not a complete rambling mess. I do that, you should be prepared.” 

He let out a breath, rubbing his lips together for a moment and he looked down at his hand, his thumb doing what it usually did just under her belly button. 

“Once Upon a Time, the princess and the traveler were separated. I told you before how she was lost and the traveler...He decided to go find her. He knew he shouldn’t. He knew that the laws of the universe forbade him from doing it, in fact. You see, she was pulled into another world. It looks a lot like the world the princess comes from, but small things are different…” 

He trailed off, taking a deep breath, and he continued. 

“The two worlds are supposed to be separate. They can’t exist together because too much is the same, but he spent four months doing absolutely nothing but searching the galaxy for something called a breach. That’s a small pocket of the Vortex that only exists when the fabric between two worlds isn’t properly sealed. He searched, and searched, and searched….He had a few run-ins with aliens, of course, sort of inevitable I s’pose…” 

Rose shifted a little in her sleep and he watched, ultimately deciding to carry on. 

“Anyway, he was growing a little desperate and rather sad. He was a little...volatile at times, looking back, and he ended up going to a planet called Atlantis. It’s one of his favorite places in the universe and he just thought it might distract him, but he ended up sitting on a bench, looking at the sky and he saw it. The breach. There was a flickering in a double star that shouldn’t be there and he felt like his world was…” 

He stopped to look at Rose again, falling impossibly more in love with her as he finished his story. 

“He wasted no time. He ran to the TARDIS and he found that star, which was actually a supernova, well it was more of a sun, I suppose and he…” 

He realized he was rambling and he smiled, reigning it back. 

“He knew the only way to get enough power was to burn it up. To absorb its energy and crash into the breach through it’s falling stardust, and that’s exactly what he did. There were probably other stars he could have found, but…” 

The nightmare that plagued his dreams for so long flickered in his mind, where her hair was whipping about her face as she cried. 

He held her hand. 

“Well, those other stars wouldn’t have been directly over the breach, so the most he could have done was send her a message. But the Traveller didn’t do that. He burned the side of the TARDIS entirely as he pulled himself into the world she was in, and he sent her a transmission so she could be there when he arrived and...They found each other.”

He leaned down to kiss her stomach, lingering just a little and he sighed. 

“The ocean…” 

He broke off, unable to put words together for this part and he leaned back, watching his most perfect human sleep for a little while he remembered that day, and he closed his eyes, letting his mind wander entirely. 

He eventually showered, he eventually ate a little more food and he eventually got a touch of sleep, and before they knew it they were back in the TARDIS making their way to London in 2010, and they hopped off the ship directly in front of Royal Hope Hospital. 

Rose’s stomach was filled with excited butterflies. The last time they had seen Martha and Donna was with Leonardo Da Vinci, and she quite simply couldn’t wait to have their friends on board for a few days. She knew they’d eventually go look at the Satellite, but at the moment that was the furthest thing from her mind. 

It was the furthest thing from his, as well. Almost dying shifted his perspective again, and he remembered how important the here and now was. 

Whatever was supposed to happen….will. 

They held hands and he winked at her as he checked his suit pocket for psychic paper and they walked through the double glass doors, following the signs up the lift to the maternity ward, and the Doctor found it rather stupid that that wasn’t on the first floor. 

Rose smirked at him as they approached a check in desk, and he smiled at a middle aged man who was on the phone. 

He hung and looked at them. “How can I help you?”

“My wife and I have an appointment with Dr. Jones,” he said, flashing his psychic paper to the man. He looked it over, and then checked the database, and he frowned. 

“I’m so sorry, sir, that doesn’t seem to be in our system. May I see that again?” he asked, and the Doctor held up the pad, and Rose just bit her lip in a smile as the Doctor sniffed and put it back in his pocket, and the man smiled. “Well, there is a bit of a gap. I’m sure we could squeeze you in. Especially you, sir.” 

“Oh? Right, yes, good,” he said, and Rose just rolled her eyes. 

_What did it say?_

_No idea. But it worked._

_Always does._

They smiled at each other as the man handed him a clipboard and the Doctor furrowed his brow, moving to sit with Rose in the waiting room. “Name?” 

“Whatever you want, Martha will just shred it most likely,” she whispered, and he smirked at her. 

“Quite right,” he murmured, and he didn’t write their usual personas of James and Rachel McKinnon, knowing Martha would guess instantly, and they wanted to see her surprise. “Julia Tipton.” 

She just smiled at him, rolling her eyes, and he laughed a little. “You still a janitor?” 

“Maybe,” he said, writing down pretend contact information and moving on. “Allergies?”

She just gave him a look because she already knew he knew everything that clipboard was asking for and he just laughed again, trying not to smile too widely at her adorable small glare and filled out everything until he reached the bottom of the page, and he stopped. “Wants to know if we want to know the sex?” 

“Can they tell this early?” she asked. 

“Possibly,” he said. “Probably not. The TARDIS probably can in about a week or so.”

“Let’s wait, then,” she whispered, and her eyes danced with his. He leaned down and kissed her, and a man cleared his throat, causing the Doctor to look at him. 

“Can we help you?” he asked, and the man just shook his head. 

“Time and a place for public displays of affection. Hospital isn’t one,” he said gruffly, and the Doctor just stared at the man. Rose watched him carefully. 

“You’re in a maternity ward,” she said. “Literal families are being made behind those doors.” 

“Or torn apart,” he muttered so quietly only the Doctor heard him, and he frowned. 

“What was that?” he asked, and the man just sniffed. 

“Time and a place,” he said, and Rose just looked at the Doctor, who kissed her anyway to make a damn point. 

He pulled away with a ‘pop’ and the man was watching Rose suddenly, a look in his eye that made the Doctor’s heart rate increase a little. He made her come with him while he dropped off the clipboard and they sat away from the man, whose eyes were following her the entire time. 

“Probably shouldn’t have kissed you that second time,” he said, and Rose just grabbed his hand. 

“Always kiss me,” she said, winking. “But we’ll tell Martha. I have a weird feeling, too.” 

He swallowed, remembering the last time they were in this hospital when suddenly the doors opened, and Martha was standing in the doorway looking down at a tablet. Her hair was tucked up in a bun and her white coat was sitting over a set of scrubs when she glanced up. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Tipton -” she said, but her eyes locked with them and a smile broke out on her face, and Rose stood. Martha’s eyes darted down her stomach for a moment, where her bump was hidden beneath a loose shirt, but she was suspicious as she played along, wondering if they were undercover for a reason. “Right this way.” 

“Thank you,” the Doctor said, glancing over at the man one more time, who was still watching Rose leave. “Who is that?” 

He whispered in Martha’s ear and she looked over too. 

“I don’t know. He’s not my patient,” she said softly. “Hello, by the way.” 

“Sorry, hello,” he said, winking at her, and Martha led them down the hall to an examination room, closing the door behind her. 

She and Rose were immediately laughing and hugging each other, and the Doctor was smiling, sitting in a chair. 

“Oh, my GOD!” she shouted. “Are you really?!” 

“Yep,” Rose said. “Wanted to surprise you.” 

“Rose!” she said, pulling her into a hug. “Oh my God!” 

They were both laughing and Martha moved to hug the Doctor. He laughed and hummed a little, moving her from side to side in a happy embrace and she pulled away with a shocked expression, staring at him. 

“I didn’t even know you two could get pregnant,” she blurted out. “Not that I thought about it. Sorry, that’s weird…” 

Rose laughed and Martha just shook her head, grabbing Rose’s hand. “Do you actually want an exam or are you here to steal me away?” 

“Both?” Rose offered, and Martha smiled widely, gesturing to the table. The Doctor moved his chair next to Rose and held her hand, and for the first time since she discovered she was pregnant, the familiar wand she’d seen at so many of her mother’s doctor’s visits came out to play, along with the gel. 

“What’s that do?” Rose asked, referring to the gel. She shivered a little when it touched her skin and the Doctor opened his mouth, but then closed it, letting Martha be the doctor today. 

“It makes the soundwaves easier to hear. Now, before we get started, I’m assuming he’s done a few check-ups? Anything you’re concerned about?” she said knowingly, looking at the Doctor who just smiled. 

“All seems good so far. She’s about 14 ½ weeks,” he said happily, and Martha stared at him. 

“How long ago was Italy for you, then?” she asked, and Rose just bit her lip. 

“A bit,” she said. “I’m sorry. We tried to come back and see you, but a lot has happened.” 

“I can tell,” Martha said, smiling at her, when the sound of a heartbeat began to echo. “Here you go. There’s….Oh, my God…” 

“What?” Rose said, a little alarmed, and Martha was staring at the screen. The double “whoosh” began. 

“It has...two hearts, I don’t want to alarm you. It could just be the screen, but -” she said, and both the Doctor and Rose started laughing.

“Oh, that’s fine,” the Doctor said. “So do I.’ 

Martha turned her attention to him, knowing news like that probably shouldn’t shock her, and yet it did. He was quite selective with the personal information he shared with her and Donna, she knew, and in the year a half since they first met she found herself in a constant state of surprise, but at the moment this one topped them all. 

“Okay,” she said, looking back at the screen. Rose just stifled a laugh and the Doctor squeezed her hand. “Wow.” 

“Yeah,” Rose said, and Martha just smiled at her. 

“I’m so happy for you two,” she said, kissing Rose’s hand. “You deserve it.” 

“Thanks, Martha,” Rose whispered, and their young friend found herself entirely more emotional than she knew she probably should be, and she took a deep breath as she took a picture and let it print, wiping the gel off of Rose’s abdomen. She took her gloves off and discarded them when there was suddenly a knock at the door. 

Martha opened it and a nurse was there, whispering something to her. Martha turned to them, and a small apologetic smile was on her face. “Sorry, bit of emergency. I have to go. A nurse can come by to help with the last bit of the exam, or I’m sure he can do it if you want. But I’ll be off in about three hours if you want to pick me up then?” 

“Sure,” the Doctor said. “We’ll go tell Donna in the meantime.” 

“Oh, can’t wait to hear how that goes,” she said. “See you soon.” 

They smiled at her and Martha slipped out of the room, and the Doctor looked back at Rose. “That went well.” 

“Yeah,” she said, smiling and sitting up, and he reached for the sonogram that had printed out, looking at it. 

“Not nearly as clear as the TARDIS,” he said, winking at her. “I say we keep it.” 

She smiled widely at him and he kissed her, and when the nurse came in they politely declined any further examinations and she led them out to the lobby. 

The man was gone, and Rose looked around for a moment, wondering if he was nearby. The Doctor looked at her, holding her hand tightly as they said goodbye and walked out of the ward, back down the hallway to the lift, when suddenly all the power went out.


	3. Oncoming Storm

They stayed exactly where they were as people started screaming, and the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, illuminating the path as they moved forward, when suddenly the lights turned back on. 

“Backup generator,” he murmured, and they looked around. Beeping noises were sounding off all around them as heart monitors and incubators and other machinery turned back on, and the Doctor felt the wheels in his brain turn and moved back toward the lobby they just left, once again flashing the same man his psychic paper. “Do you need help checking on all the rooms?” 

“Y-yeah, go, please,” he said, a little scrambled and the Doctor pulled Rose with him back through the double doors, this time going away from the examination rooms to the delivery rooms down a long corridor in the opposite direction. 

Women were screaming, some in labor, some just scared from the blackout, and Rose knew the Doctor was looking for Martha, alarm bells going off in both of their heads, and her Instincts were guiding them. 

People were still running. 

“This way,” she said, and they turned the corner, seeing Martha walking out of the room she had been called into, snapping a little at a rather terrified intern who couldn’t keep it together. 

“The power came back on and people need us. Everything is fine, now get back to work,” she said, and then began to mutter under her breath. The Doctor smiled, thinking about how meek and timid she was when he first met her compared to now. She put her tablet down and started to walk forward when she saw them, and she gave them both a knowing look. “Should have known you two would be investigating.” 

“Does that happen often? A blackout?” Rose asked. Martha shook her head. 

“Only in mad weather,” she said. The Doctor crossed to the window, but it was sunny and bright, and he sniffed. 

“That man from before, you’ve never seen him?” Rose asked. Martha shook her head. 

“No, why?” she asked, and the Doctor made a gesture with his head for all of them to follow, looking around carefully. 

“He wouldn’t stop staring at Rose. Made some rather unnecessary comments,” he mumbled. “Her Instincts are concerned.” 

Martha looked at her, and Rose just gave her a soft smile. They’d been on enough trips and dealt with enough aliens by this point for Martha to question anything that had to do with Rose’s instincts, and she just nodded. 

“Let me get someone to cover my patients,” she said, and the Doctor and Rose hung back as Martha chatted with a nurse, gesturing over to them, and they were sure she was claiming something was wrong with Rose that needed to be checked out and she’d be back soon. 

It’s what they would have done. 

“Okay, where first?” she asked, and Rose glanced around, keeping an eye for the man in case they’d be lucky and spot him, but she just bit her lip. 

“Something blew the power out,” she said. “I want to find it.” 

The Doctor bit his cheek as that was exactly what he was thinking and he held Rose’s hand. A woman in labor screamed horrifically and it made Rose jump, and he just rubbed her back. 

_Are Time Lord deliveries that painful?_

He didn’t say anything and she just sighed, putting that thought out of her mind for now. 

“Come on,” she said, guiding them toward the corridor that led to the exam rooms. They walked past orderlies running and monitors were still beeping, and they just followed Rose, trusting her Instincts completely as they opened each door, looking for something. “It’s not here.” 

She moved back toward the lobby and out toward the lifts, and something was telling her to go further down the hall. She did, all three of their eyes peeled for anything suspicious until they reached the radiology center, and Rose stared at the door. 

The Doctor didn’t even ask before he used his sonic screwdriver to open the door, the look on Rose’s face deductive and concerned, and they stood back. 

There were three employees who had been electrocuted, lying on the ground, and Martha immediately ran to them. 

“They’re alive, but barely,” she said, checking each pulse. The Doctor’s brain was working quickly as he looked at the main counter and he hopped over, scanning and searching. 

Papers were scattered all over the room and Rose walked in a circle, scanning as well, and she moved to another room, where an MRI machine rested. Her brow furrowed and she walked inside, scanning slowly, and Martha was pulling the people out into the hall, directing nurses to grab gurneys and other doctors were running to her, all working together to save their staff. 

The Doctor let her handle all of that as he moved to join Rose, watching for a moment as she scanned the MRI machine. “Clear.” 

“Something happened that affected this part of the hospital,” he said. “Come on.” 

She followed him out, and both suddenly smelled smoke from another room across the way, and the Doctor walked forward first, kicking it open in case the handle was too hot, where an X-Ray machine was sparking. He coughed a little at first before he engaged his respiratory bypass and Rose looked over his shoulder. “Stay here.” 

She didn’t argue with him as he crossed the threshold, noticing broken glass and other shattered equipment at this feet. He walked up to the machine and scanned quickly, before he moved the actual scanner and stopped. “There’s a photon sensor on here.” 

“What does that mean?” Rose asked. He managed to break it off, looking it over in his hand, a sudden smile on his face. 

“Oh, it’s state of the art! Absolutely gorgeous. Rose, look,” he said, running over to her and holding his hand out. 

“Looks like a disk,” she said, smirking at him. He just wagged his eyebrows at her. 

“It is,” he said. “Someone was trying to increase the quality of this X-Ray. There’s no manufacturing code, no company name stamped on the back. It’s as if this was built in someone’s backyard.” 

“Who says it wasn’t?” she asked, and his eyes danced with hers for a moment. “What does it do?” 

“They’re massless particles. Waves, essentially. Move at the speed of light and emit electromagnetic radiation,” he said. “These amplify the photons in existence wherever you place them. They’re fascinating, actually, invented in the 2060s in Germany to do, well, exactly what this one was. Make X-Rays clearer and medicine just a little bit easier.” 

“It’s 2010,” Rose said. The Doctor just sighed. 

“I know,” he said. “But look how pretty.” 

She knew he was trying to make her laugh, and it worked. He grinned at the sound and looked back down at the sensor, shaking his head a little. “Albert Einstein is the one who first theorized it.” 

“Does it have anything to do with relativity?” she asked, the conversation, for a moment, taking a much more serious turn. He just looked at her. 

“No,” he said, and Rose relaxed a little. “But…” 

“What?” she asked, and he just shook his head. 

“Well, like you said, it's 2010. The machine couldn’t possibly have been able to withstand the extra radiation. The moment this thing turned on it would have blown the whole power grid,” he said. Rose looked at it. 

“Someone’s here,” she whispered, sensing movement behind her, and the Doctor grabbed her waist, putting the sensor in his pocket as the man from the lobby suddenly came into view, shaking his head at them. 

He had a ring on his pinkie, Rose noticed, and she felt her heart rate increase. 

“You two need to stop what you’re doing,” he said. “All your investigating.” 

The Doctor just furrowed his brow, and Rose watched him walk in and close the door, staring at them intently. 

“You know us?” the Doctor asked, and the man just smirked. 

“Heard of you,” he said. “Read about you.” 

“Where?” Rose asked, and the man just shook his head. 

“Just know we’re watching,” he said. “And this is the only warning you will get.” 

“Who?” the Doctor said, and the man just smiled.

“Did you like my sensor?” he asked. “Patrick’s design.” 

Rose just watched as the man moved and pressed his back against the wall. “He died twenty years ago.” 

“Yes,” the man said. “How do you know that?” 

The Doctor just narrowed his gaze, neither answering his question and he stayed very still, looking at them. 

“We know she’s pregnant,” he said. “I suggest you stop.” 

Everything in the room began to move in slow motion, and the Doctor felt a rage bubble inside of him brighter and hotter than he can ever remember it being. He took a step toward the man, no longer breathing. 

“Did you just threaten my child?” he asked quietly, and Rose knew the Oncoming Storm was fully blowing, his voice in its angriest tone. The man just smiled. 

“We’re watching,” he said, and the Doctor took one more step forward. 

“Oh, you just made a big mistake,” he said, his voice calculated. “The correct answer was ‘no.’” 

“I’m just a messenger,” the man said, and the Doctor deducted in his mind, deciding what his next move should be.

“Then tell whoever you’re working for that I will not, and let me say this very slowly so your stupid brain can understand, because you must be very stupid to threaten my family...That if they so much as raise a finger at my wife... or at our child...that I’ll kill them,” he said clearly, and the man just stared, a flicker of fear in his eyes. The Doctor continued. “Does the name Gallifrey mean anything to you?” 

Rose grabbed his hand. “Doctor,” she whispered, and he didn’t look at her. His voice never got loud, and his face never cracked, and Rose saw the moment the fury of his storm affected the man in front of them, and he suddenly began to tremble ever so slightly. 

“Who do you work for?” the Doctor asked, and the man shook his head. 

“I’ll tell them what you’ve said,” he murmured. “But I’m not allowed to divulge that information.” 

Rose looked down at the ring, committing it to memory now that she finally had a closer look at it, and the Doctor took one more step toward the man. 

“What’s your name?” he asked, his voice still cold. The man shook his head. 

“Please,” he whispered, and the Doctor snapped, just for a moment. 

“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” he bellowed, his storm cascading around the room, causing the broken machines to shake. The man broke. 

“Robert,” he said. “Robert Rhodes.” 

“Any relation to Her Majesty’s doctor?” Rose asked, and Robert just looked at her. 

“Answer her,” the Doctor said, his voice back to its full storm. Very quiet, completely terrifying. 

“I don’t know,” he said, and both Rose and the Doctor knew he was lying. The Doctor just looked at him, and Robert began to shake his head. “What?”

“I’d run along now. Before I change my mind,” he said, “Tell them.” 

Robert just swallowed, and he nodded, practically tripping over his feet as he bolted out of the door, and the moment it closed the Doctor pulled Rose into a hug. 

Neither said anything for a few minutes, and he counted her heartbeat as it pulsed against his chest, trying to regulate his own breathing. 

“Are you alright?” he eventually asked, and Rose nodded. 

“Doctor, nothing is going to happen to me or the baby,” she whispered, and he took a very long breath. 

“I know,” he said. “I meant what I said.” 

“I know you did,” she said softly, and he pulled away, cupping her cheeks and letting hazel galaxies swim in chocolate. “I have a feeling wolves make pretty good protectors as well.” 

He clenched his jaw, sighing. “I have that feeling, too.” 

Neither smiled, but they did look deeply into each other's eyes, saying all they needed to there until he leaned down and kissed her, latching his mouth to hers. 

The door opened and Martha was suddenly standing there, looking down at her feet as they finished their kiss. They pulled away slowly and turned to her, and she let out a long breath. 

“All the radiologists seem to be okay,” she said. “The floor is stable again. All of my patients are covered. Did you find anything?” 

“Taken care of,” the Doctor said, his tone light and carefree despite the ache in his stomach. “A malfunction in this machine. Caused the grid to blow. Rose thinks the man was just an arsehole, personally. Instincts.” 

Martha looked at him, not entirely believing him and Rose just smiled at her. “Are you off work?” 

“Um, yeah.” Martha said. Rose just nodded and the Doctor refused to let go of her hand as they moved forward, walking back toward the door to the entrance to the lab. 

“You coming?” she asked, and Martha just nodded, silently following her friends out of the room. 

“What happened?” she asked, but neither the Doctor or Rose said anything, not wanting to talk about it here and not knowing quite where to begin, as Martha didn’t know any of it. They just pressed the door to the lift and walked back through the front lobby toward the TARDIS, letting Martha hop on first as they closed the door. 

“She looks different,” Martha said as she looked around, and the Doctor took another deep breath, aware the TARDIS had made very slight modifications after…. 

“She got a bit banged up recently,” Rose just said, and Martha looked at her, concerned. “I want chips.” 

“Okay,” the Doctor said, and Martha looked at him next. 

“No flirty banter?” she said. “No overly sweet smiles?” 

“What?” the Doctor asked, and Martha just crossed her arms. 

“Every time she asks you for chips you flirt and smile,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” the Doctor said. “Everything is fine.” 

“Right, well, then I’m just going to go,” Martha said, and Rose locked eyes with the Doctor, who sighed. 

“Stop,” he said. “Don’t do that.” 

“Doctor,” Martha began, “You two are some of my best friends. We’ve been through a lot, and if you don’t want to tell me that’s fine but don’t lie to my face.” 

“You’re right,” the Doctor murmured. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s a really long story,” Rose said. “But someone…” 

Martha just looked at her, and she ran her hand along Rose’s arm. “It’s okay. I just….if you need anything I’m here.” 

“We need to go to a Satellite,” Rose said, and the Doctor shook his head. 

“We can’t,” he muttered. “They’re expecting us.” 

Martha had so many questions and it was almost physically painful not to ask them when she saw the look in Rose’s eye. She watched the Doctor just clench his jaw and look down at the controls, and she knew he was playing with wires, and when the room grew silent, she knew they were probably talking in their heads. 

They’d never _told_ her they could do that, but she sort of knew. 

“One thing I know,” Martha said, interrupting whatever they were doing. “Rose needs to eat at regular intervals. So I vote we go somewhere with chips. I could use a bloody drink myself.” 

“Okay,” the Doctor said, smiling a little. “Chips then pick up Donna?” 

“We need to get her a gift for our surprise,” Rose murmured, and the Doctor pulled out the sonogram Martha took from his pocket, staring at it for a moment. 

A being in the universe…. 

“Put this in a hatbox?” he said, and Rose just smiled. There had been one trip before they met Martha where Donna brought her hatbox onboard the TARDIS, just in case. 

“Sure,” she said, and the Doctor just looked at his wife for a moment, moving to hand the picture to her. 

“Why don’t you and Martha go pick one out?” he said softly, and she just nodded. 

“I love you,” she said. 

“I love you, too,” he replied, and he watched as she grabbed Martha’s hand and let her to the wardrobe, and he ran a hand over his face, standing there for a moment. 

He wasn’t scared. He wasn’t necessarily worried or dwelling or any of the other hundreds of things he could be. He believed in destiny. He believed in Rose. He knew they would fight like hell. 

He was, however, rather angry. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it go with a huff as he walked to the console and set coordinates for New Earth, not telling Martha or Rose he was there as he ran out and grabbed all of them some chips, returning half an hour later and setting them all on the console while he went to the galley and poured Martha some wine. 

They came walking into the console room a few minutes after he got back, a rather ornate hatbox in their hands with a large bow and frilly ribbons, and he smirked a little as he handed Rose her chips, and she smiled when she realized where they were from. 

“Thank you,” she said, and Martha said the same. 

They ate in the galley, catching up, mostly letting Martha do the talking. It had only been about a month and a half since she saw them, but she told them everything from her mother’s new job to a fight she had with her sister that they had gotten over, to how busy it had been at work. They smiled at her, happy she was here with them as the salty vinegar sat on their tongues, and they held hands under the table. 

“You two aren’t in danger, are you?” she asked suddenly, and Rose just looked at the Doctor, who shook his head. 

“No, don’t think so,” he said. “Nothing we can’t handle anyway.” 

“Okay,” she said, finishing her glass of wine and letting out a breath. “Do you mind if I take a shower before we go? I worked a double shift.” 

“Not at all,” the Doctor said, and they watched her go. Rose leaned her head on his shoulder and he kissed her forehead, letting his lips rest there for a moment. 

“We should have gone to the Satellite last week. I’m sorry,” he whispered. “We just can’t.” 

“No, I know,” she said, and she pulled her head back, looking at him. “I have a feeling we just weren’t supposed to.” 

“Yeah?” he asked. 

“Yes,” she assured him, kissing his hand. “His ring means something.” 

“What ring?” the Doctor asked, and Rose just smiled, her tongue finding its usual spot. 

“Come with me,” she said, and she held his hand as they walked to their bedroom, and he sat on the bed while she grabbed Mr. Rhodes’ notebook and flipped through the pages, handing it to him. “That symbol.” 

“How come I never noticed that before?” he muttered, and she just bit her lip. 

“I didn’t either, really. Didn’t think about it. But Robert was wearing a ring that had it etched on the front, and I saw Mr. Rhodes’ wearing a ring that day in 1901. It’s important, somehow,” she whispered, and he smiled, looking up at her. 

“Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth,” he said adoringly, and she brushed his hair back, moving to sit in his lap on the bed. 

He kissed her, a long, deep, slow kiss that left goosebumps in its wake, and he glanced back down at the notebook. 

The symbol was a collection of circles, overlapping each other again and again and again and he stared at it, trying to remember if he’d ever seen it before, when Rose kissed him again. He dropped the notebook so he could wrap his arms around her, and they kissed again, his hand resting on her belly. 

“Me and You, yeah?” she whispered, and he nodded. 

“Yeah,” he said, kissing her once more. They looked at each other for a moment before she stood, leading him to the console and taking the lead on the coordinates, parking them right outside Donna’s flat, just as Martha walked in in new clothes, and they just looked at each other. 

“You two go ahead,” Martha said. “You should be the ones to tell her.” 

“Give us ten minutes,” Rose said, and Martha smiled as they bounded off the ship. 

Donna wasn’t home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Telling Donna will be in the next story plus a journey with all 4 of them! Hope you liked this one!


End file.
